Nothing Better
by epidemick
Summary: Fifteen year old Shindou Hikaru is an enigma, confusing everyone. He had never stepped foot in the Go world until his computer broke. Annoyed, Hikaru chooses the only other option to play Go: Become a pro.
1. Prologue

_Nothing Better_

_Prologue_

—

**A/N: ** I do realize that all of these new story ideas are just a really piss-poor way of putting off updating IDC and PITD. I'm just trying to save you from the horrendous works of my imagination on the still-unfinished-and-getting-absolutely-nowhere chapters. Enjoy the new story, or whatever.

A crash, followed by a string of mumbled curses.

Shindou Hikaru looked down at the remains of his once-working computer. The computer itself was quite pitiful, really. Hikaru thought the little circuit boards and bits of wiring littering floor was an improvement from the bulky, heinous white box that he called a 'computer.' Though Hikaru thought the ugly thing was a complete and total waste of money—he tried to get his parents to buy a _half_-decent computer, but they bought him this piss poor thing—it was the only way he could play Go without being hounded.

On the internet, he had taken up this whole You-can't-beat-me-cause-your-Go-stinks-like-shit-and-I-totally-handed-you-your-ass persona, inadvertently earning the pros an excuse to hunt him down. It wasn't his fault that he totally kicked ass at Go, even if he didn't want to become a pro.

"Damn," Hikaru mumbled, kicking a bit of the wiring out of his way to stalk to the door. "Mom, I need a new computer!" His mother sighs from somewhere in the house, obviously mumbling some rebuke Hikaru doesn't need to hear.

The youngest Shindou slammed his door shut, and threw himself on his bed.

He thinks, because he has absolutely nothing better to do.

While he reaches the conclusion of becoming a pro has its upsides, the teenager also counters his thoughts with the poor skill levels of most of the pros today. Because really, only a few were relatively interesting enough to capture the boy's attention. That doesn't make the whole hounding thing worth it, really, why would he come out into the open and play pros with shitty skill levels?

He glances at his goban, and at the light layer of dust covering it. The fifteen-year-old sighs, then rolls off his bed to wipe some of the dust off. He figures he needs to do at least that much, considering his old man dug into his wallet to buy the ungrateful brat a real goban and stones.

"Hikaru," his mother called, "Akari's here!"

Hikaru glanced over at the calendar beside his bed, examining it. Akari normally came on Thursday for a game of shidou-go.

"Send her up!" he yelled back, continuing to aimlessly wipe dust from the goban with his sleeve.

His door opened slowly after a few moments, and Akari walked into the room. "Hikaru, what happened?"

He smirked a bit and replied, "My computer blew up on me. But, it's old and cruddy, so I'll just have to save up to buy a new one."

"Oh," she mutters, stepping around the remnants of the computer. She pushes aside some circuitry, and plops down on the opposite side of the goban.

"Are you ready?" Akari nodded her head, determined. Hikaru smiled faintly, gestures for Akari to place stones.

"Aw, Hikaru, couldn't you've gone a bit easier on me?" Hikaru laughed, then looked up at Akari.

"I did, compared to what I play like on the internet. Look here," he said as he pointed to a cluster of stones. "If you played a kosumi here, that could've gotten you some of my territory. But, if you played against an insei, I guess you _could_ make it at most to chuban."

"Hikaru, why don't you become an insei? Surely they must be more exciting than playing teaching games with me." Hikaru shrugged, looking at the floor.

"I dunno. I never really thought what it would be like being a pro or an insei, just what would happen to me." He paused, glancing at the goban. "I mean, you know I'm really good, right?"

Akari nodded. "But they'd be more fun for you to play." she asserted, repeating her earlier statement.

Hikaru sighed a little, an obvious sign of defeat and annoyance. "Listen, if it makes you feel any better, I'm probably going to take the insei exam. I need some money for a new computer, and becoming a pro will give me money _and_ I get to play go."

Akari grinned, triumphant. "Makes me feel _much_ better, baka."

"Right."


	2. Chapter 1

_Chapter One:_

_Mr. Brightside_

—

Shindou Hikaru patrols the Tokyo streets, looking for something to help him out with the cost of the Insei Exam. He had already hit all of the Go salons he knew of, betting that he could win—which he did—and then went to another salon making the same bet.

His mother won't help him—she's already concerned about why exactly her son wants to pour all of his concentration on something that he's considered a pastime—so parental funding is out. He could beg to his grandfather—which the old man will probably dish out the money that it takes to take the test plus some—but the oldest Shindou will probably spill the whole, lending your son cash to play a game for a living thing, and therefore earning him a punishment.

He glances at a pole, then stops.

A Go salon is in this building.

Excited at the chance to get more money, Hikaru bolts up the stairway to the floor the salon would be on. He pushes through the automatic door before its done opening and glances around at the salon's occupants.

There's a woman resting against the counter, and a few old men playing here and there. A boy, about his age is looking wistfully at the goban, seeming oddly out of place around the old men.

"Hello there," the woman greets, and Hikaru pulls out the necessary 500 yen to get in. She smiles and says, "You can play anyone you want."

He nods and makes his way over to some old men, rambling on about something. "Do you want to play a game?" he asked the men, and they both look up from their conversation.

"Sure, sure," one says, and his friend gets up to observe, gesturing to Shindou to take his seat.

"Thanks," Hikaru mutters, then sets himself down in the chair, looking at the older man. "You wanna set a stone handicap, old man? I may not look like much, but you might want to put down four or five stones."

The old man blinked, surprised. "Handicap?" he sputters, then he viciously digs his hand into the go ke. "_Nigiri_, brat. We're playing even."

—

"I'm losing."

"Thank you for the game," Hikaru bows his head a little, feeling guilty that he crushed the man in the beginning game. The whole battle only lasted half an hour.

Hikaru cleans the board, and stands up, walking past the other man, and makes his way over to the kid his age. "Excuse me, but do you want to play a game? That old man wasn't much."

The other boy glances up, then he smiles a bit. "Sure. Why don't you place few stones."

"We're playing even," Hikaru insists, and the other boy looks surprised.

"Alright." He dips his hand into the bowl, drawing out a number of stones. Hikaru places one stone on the board, and he counts out the stones.

"Please," they said simultaneously.

Hikaru places the first stone, and they both launch into a game beyond their expectations.

—

"With komi, black is 70, and white is 69."

Hikaru looked up at the other boy, who was still engrossed in the board. It had been a close game, but Hikaru had managed to squeeze past with a half a moku win. He ran a hand through his bleached bangs, finally noticing the murmurs of the crowd that had gathered during their game.

"Hey, that was a great game. I can't remember how long it's been since I've gone all out. I'm Shindou Hikaru," he stuck out his hand, and the other boy finally looked up and looked at his hand before clutching it with his own.

"Touya Akira," he introduces, then he glances over Hikaru's shoulder and gasps. Hikaru glanced over his shoulder to see who had Touya gasping, and he looked over the man.

"Touya Kouyo…"

"Akira, please allow me to talk to this young man alone," the Meijin said, and his son, Akira, nodded and got up slowly. He finally looked at Hikaru once the crowd of old men dispersed and Akira had gone elsewhere. "That was a good game; my son didn't see your trap though."

"Hai, Touya-sensei. Akira-san did well, but I did manage to gain territory from the battle here." Hikaru said, pointing slowly to a cluster of stones. The Meijin glanced at the shape of the stones before chuckling.

"That's right. Shindou-san, are you an insei?"

"Iie. I'm trying to raise money for the fee. I don't have enough and my mother says that she can't give me the money needed." Hikaru hung his head.

"I'll pay for it," the older man offered, and Hikaru's head bolted up.

"Really? Thank you, Touya-meijin!"

"If… you play a game with me."

Hikaru fell back into his seat. Playing a game with the Meijin… in exchange for the funds for his exam fee? Hikaru couldn't help but feel a bit excited, playing a game with an accomplished pro—especially one with four titles—was a great opportunity.

"Hai!"

Hikaru cleared the board, placing the glass stones in their respective bowls before turning to the Meijin. "Are we playing even?"

"Iie. Place two stones." He ordered, and Hikaru hastily placed to black stones, thankful for the slight handicap. An even game with the title-holder would be suicide.

Hikaru bowed his head, "Please."

The Meijin gave a slight tilt of his head in return and gestured for Hikaru to place his first stone.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There. Hikaru plays the Meijin for his exam fee.

Short chapter, but hey, take it or leave it, alright?

The Killers own 'Mr. Brightside.'


	3. Chapter 2

_Chapter Two:_

_Give 'Em Hell, Kid_

—

Hikaru placed his first move on the lower left star point, then waited for Kouyo to place his stone. Kouyo took a moment to speculate the board, then grabbed a stone from his go-ke, placing it down on the goban.

_Whoa, were his fingers just glowing?_ Hikaru didn't think such a thing was possible. Sure, he had played a real person before, but no other player was like this man.

Shindou shook his head, telling himself to concentrate, then took another black stone from the bowl and played the 16-10 spot.

Kouyo took another stone and placed it down, his fingers glowing again. "You know, Akira's a pro. It seems highly unlikely some unknown amateur would beat him in a game… So, that makes your victory hard to believe. Tell me, young man, did you have a master train you? That seems like the only logical explanation."

Hikaru placed another stone, then looked up at the Meijin. "I did, but he's gone. I'm not anywhere near as good as him, though. I'm barely about a fourth his skill when I'm playing seriously."

The Meijin, who was still looking at the board, smirked the tiniest bit. "Are you playing seriously now?"

"Oh, of course, Touya-Meijin, sir!" The older Touya raised an eyebrow, and Hikaru exhaled a bit, "My real specialty is speed-go, but I can play just as well with regular go."

"Really? Well, speed-go isn't a forte of mine, but if it gets you to play better, then let's do it." The Meijin placed a stone, and Hikaru placed one just as soon as his hand left the stone. Kouyo looked up, then narrowed his eyes a bit.

Gone was the boy he had talked to seconds ago, and in his place was a lion, caged, waiting to get out. As they were playing, the older man could see that this was not even a _fifth_ of his potential. He was very rough, but the teen was a true diamond found among a pile of dirt.

The Meijin placed a stone, and as he expected, Hikaru placed one right on top of his hand. Touya examined the boy, then noticed that he had set a trap that any other go pro might not have noticed. It seemed impossible that the blonde had read so far ahead into the game to set a trap so complicated, but, in the example of his son, the title-holder knew not to underestimate an opponent by age.

But, Touya-Meijin was not just any other pro, so he successfully eluded the trap with a connection, thereby nullifying the effect.

Shindou smiled the tiniest bit. Of course the Meijin had seen through _that_ trap, but what he did not know is that Hikaru had set up a far stealthier trap. All he had to do was play out three more hands, then Kouyo should play right into the trap.

As the blonde boy placed another stone, Touya-Meijin widened his eyes. The boy had played a far more complicated trap, one that had not been used in two hundred years. In fact—the only person known to have the talent and sheer ability to play it was Shuusaku. He had not seen this coming.

It was impossible; the teen had read deeper into the game than the _Meijin_, holder of _four_ titles and the man closest to the Hand of God. The Meijin looked up to see the tiniest hint of a smile on the teen's face. The older man realized that placing a two-stone handicap while not playing at his full level was a mistake.

It was time for him to take the game seriously.

—

"Here," Touya-Meijin said, pointing to the trap Hikaru had sprung on him near the end of the beginning game, "this is where I started to play seriously. I have studied over Shuusaku's kifu, so I recognized the trap that you had set. It's far too complicated for the average pro to see, much less an _amateur_ playing it, knowing full well what he was doing. So, Shindou Hikaru, who was your mentor?"

Shindou, whose head was hung, did not reply.

"I see, so you want to keep this person a secret… Ah, well. It will come out eventually." Touya looked away from the boy, then his eyes landed on his son, Akira, who was watching the game near the counter with heated eyes. "So, Shindou-san, how long have you been playing Go?"

"Two years," Shindou mumbled, and the oldest Touya had to widen his eyes once more. The boy had played for a mere two years and he was on equal footing as his son, who had played since he was a small child?

"Very well, Shindou-san, I will pay for your insei exam. All you have to do is take and pass the pro examination." Kouyo bargained, and Shindou raised his head and nodded.

"Arigatou, Touya-Meijin," he said as he stood up. He bowed to the older man, then left the salon, but not before glancing at Akira.

The Meijin saw Hikaru glance at Akira and smiled. It's not everyday when someone who was revered as a prodigy was beaten by some unknown player who was your age. Akira had a new rival.

—

"Hey mom! I got the money to pay for the exams! You'll never guess who either!"

"That's great, Hikaru-kun. Who gave you the money?" His mother asked, yelling from the kitchen. Hikaru kicked off his shoes and made his way to his mother.

"Touya Kouyo," he said, and his mother widened her eyes. She knew very little about the Go world; but she knew some of the big name pros out there—mainly because Hikaru would go on and on for hours if he even _glimpsed_ one of their games—and Touya Kouyo was the one he went on about the most.

"How'd you even _meet_ him?"

"He owns a salon downtown. I went in to bet the old men for money, and I found his son there. I beat him, and turns out, Kouyo was watching the whole time. He challenged me to a game, and if I was good enough, he would sponsor me in the exams." Hikaru drawled, then he grabbed the ramen his mother had made for him.

"Really? How'd you beat such a strong pro?" she asked, leaning against the counter.

He sighed, obviously a bit unhappy, "I didn't beat him. I lost by ten moku. He saw Shuusaku's trap that I laid, then started to play seriously."

"Oh, well, you should be happy. You made Touya-san play seriously. Not many people can do that, you know."

"I know, but he wasn't even playing me fully. Only a real match can bring out one's true skill. Kouyo is the same." Hikaru said, jabbing aimlessly at his ramen with his chopsticks. His mother sighed, then left the kitchen, leaving Hikaru alone with his thoughts.

—

"Excuse me, I'm here to take the Insei Exam," Hikaru said to the man behind the desk. The man smiled.

"The Exams are taking place on the fifth floor. From there, you can follow the sign to the right room." He said, pointing to the elevator in the process. Hikaru nodded, then gently pushed his mother to get her to move.

"Arigatou," she said before Hikaru pushed her off.

They made their way over to the elevator, then stepped in when the doors opened. Hikaru pressed the button for the fifth floor, then he and his mother waited while the elevator slowly ascended to their floor.

Finally, the elevator dinged, indicating that it had reached the fifth floor. Hikaru and his mother stepped out, walking to the place where they removed their shoes. Hikaru looked around for a sign, and spotted a small one saying 'Insei Examinations, Rm. 7.'

They walked to room seven, then entered. Hikaru spotted other children and their parents waiting to be called, so he sat next to his mother, waiting too.

"Shindou Hikaru," a voice called out. Hikaru looked up, then got up, his mother trailing behind him. Hikaru approached the door his name had been called through.

A man, no older than forty sat in the room, across from a goban. "Kifu," he almost sighed once Hikaru sat down.

"Right…" Hikaru pulled out a few pieces of folded paper and handed three to the examiner.

"NetGo, huh?"

"Yessir. I printed off some of my better games. I couldn't find my best ones, so I hope these are good enough." Hikaru admitted, and the man didn't hear him, he was too immersed in the kifu.

The boy was good. Unnaturally so for just an amateur. His opponents were okay, but the flow and solidity of his moves were that of a pro. He also noticed that he had set up traps and moves that required a deep insight into the game, deeper than that of most.

"Excuse me, Examiner-san? Hello?" Hikaru asked, waving his hands in the man's face.

"Oh, sorry about that. My name is Shigeru. Alright, how about we play even?" Shigeru asked, and Hikaru nodded.

"Do we use komi?"

"Yes, yes. Now, take out your stones."

—

"I resign."

Shigeru exhaled. The boy was too much for him to handle. He had the talent of Touya Akira, if not more. "Come to the Institute at this time, a month from now. That's when the sessions start."

"Arigatou, Shigeru-san." Hikaru got up and left the room with his mother.

Shindou Hikaru was going to make a bigger ripple than Touya Akira did. The new wave is approaching fast.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hola! First chapter in a while eh? I decided it's time I get out of the creative writing slump, (mainly to do something), and write a damn chapter.

Remember, this is Hikaru and Akira's levels before they get all 'I've got to defeat him!' sort of competition. They aren't super-strong yet, and there will be some struggles over the Go board, but it will all work itself out in the end.

Also, I'm not familiar with a Go board or the game, I only know what I've seen or read. So please, bear with me, I'm a beginner.


	4. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three:_

_This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race_

—

Waya Yoshitaka was having a good day.

The new insei were coming in, so this was his opportunity to gain their respect, all and all, become a role model to the newbies.

"Aaah! Shit, I'm late!"

A boy, about a year younger than him, pushed past Waya to squeeze into the elevator, ultimately making the cammo-clad boy late himself. "Damn new kids," he fumed to himself while turning to run up the stairs.

Coming to the correct floor, he waved vaguely to Isumi, who was just entering the room, and slid off his shoes.

"Damn it." Waya cursed, bumping into the corner, Isumi sent him an amused glance.

"What's got you riled up, Waya-kun?"

The younger boy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, it was a good day until this stupid kid made me miss the elevator…..Running about like a big shot…Just like Touya Akira!"

Isumi chuckled. "Well, are you sure it wasn't Touya-kun?"

"Why would Touya be here? Anyway, no, it wasn't Touya. It was some new kid; I've never seen him before." Waya corrected.

"Ah," Isumi said, then, "I heard only one of the new kids here is pretty good. I was doing something here on the day that they did the Exams—I over heard Shigeru-sensei talking about a really talented kid, how he was stronger than Touya."

Waya huffed dramatically. "Why would a kid who was as good as Touya come here?"

Isumi waved his hands, "I don't know. Don't look at me."

Waya looked away from his friend, glancing at the game card to see who he was playing today. "Anyway, I bet it's just some egotistic kid spreading a rumor about himself, and Shigeru-sensei just got pulled into it."

Isumi shook his head at the younger boy, then went to sit as his goban, and Waya did likewise.

—

It was a month later until Waya finally met Shindou.

"Yeah, it was something like—Hey, watch it!" Waya exclaimed to the shorter boy, as he had bumped into him rather harshly.

Nase, who Waya had been speaking to, tried to relieve the tension that was quickly escalating between the two boys. "Calm down, Waya-kun, I'm sure he didn't mean to—"

Shindou snorted and glared at the other, "Well, I wouldn't have bumped into him if he didn't take up the whole damn hallway!"

Waya glared back. "I can take up as much space as I want to, brat!" He shoved the other boy, to which Hikaru shoved right back.

"Give up, old man; I can take you any day, anyway."

Waya decided to take his challenge. "Then what do you say to a game of go? You win, and I won't bother you anymore. But if I win, you have to apologize, and say, 'I'm sorry, Waya-sama, I won't ever bother your greatness ever again.'"

Nase sweatdropped at the stakes, but they only served to rile Hikaru up more, his green eyes lighting up in anger.

"Like you'd ever win, asshole. You better be prepared for your complete embarrassment."

The two boys, though glaring at each other the whole time, made their way to the salon that the Institute housed with a meek Nase following behind.

Waya threw himself into a chair, while Shindou did likewise.

"Before I beat you, kid, what's your name? I like to know the names of my victims." Waya said, opening his go ke to draw out some stones.

"Shindou Hikaru. Yours?"

"Waya Yoshitaka." He gestured behind him, to where Nase was standing. "She's Nase Asumi. We're insei."

Hikaru seemed a little surprised, "I'm an insei as well."

Waya considered him for a moment, taking in his bleached hair and odd clothes. He looked like he belonged in a skate park rather than in front of a goban, but, then again; Waya didn't exactly seem go-literate, either.

"If you're an insei, why haven't I seen you before?" Nase asked, also taking in the other teen's appearance.

"I'm still in B-class, though I'll be in A-class next week. I haven't lost a game yet." Hikaru gloated a little, setting out a stone.

Waya counted his stones, the count coming out odd. He and Shindou switched colors, Waya white, and Shindou black.

Though grudgingly, the two bowed a little, and said, "Please."

Hikaru moved in and took the upper right star point, to which Waya took the lower left.

Through their game, Nase watched intently. Waya was angry, and that showed in his go a little; his style was off. He was attacking more, pushing in too much; but Shindou…Shindou was good.

The two-toned boy was angry before, she could tell, but now his face was completely wiped clean, only showing the focus and determination on the game in front of him. His eyes seemed to glow as his set down stones with a satisfying _clack_. She examined his playing style to see that, though his shape was a little out-of-date, modern go was thrown in to make it very effective. He seemed sure of what he was doing when he made odd moves, and, as she found out, helped him in the long run as they made their use only a few hands later.

_There!_ Hikaru seemed to smirk as he threw down the next stone, and Waya, in the middle of pulling out another one, stopped dead.

_No! My group is dying! H-How?_ Shocked, he looked up at his opponent, who was still surveying the board. _This guy is way out of my league! Making weird moves, then coming back to bite me in the ass! Who is he?!_

His pride thoroughly wounded, Waya scrutinized the board for any chance of escape or revival. It seemed Shindou had covered his bases, as the brown-haired boy found no clear path out. Placing the single white stone back into the bowl, he reluctantly bowed his head and said, "I give up."

Shindou bowed back, "Thank you for the game."

As they cleaned the board, Waya asked the boy, "How come you're an insei? Clearly, with your skill, you could easily go on to be a pro."

Shindou blinked, then, "I took the insei exams 'cause their cheaper. Plus, my mother wasn't real happy with me dropping out of soccer and diving into go for no reason, so I didn't want to give her a heart attack by saying, 'Hey, mom! I'm going to be a Go pro and make an income now, okay?' when I barely played in the first place. It was an abrupt decision, after all, but I probably wouldn't have been able to take the Insei Exams if Touya-Meijin didn't sponsor me."

At his last statement, the other two insei sputtered.

"Touya-Meijin?!" Nase cried, looking shocked.

"How did you get Touya-Meijin to sponsor _you_?" Waya exclaimed jealously.

Shindou said in a perfectly controlled voice, "He owns a Salon downtown. I was in there scraping for cash, and I played his son, Aki-something, and he was watching the whole time. He offered to sponsor me."

"You played Touya Akira?" Waya asked incredulously.

Shindou nodded, "Yeah, I beat him by half a moku. It was a good game."

As Waya picked his jaw up off the floor, he remembered the stakes of the game, "Well, you won, so I guess you don't have to apologize…even though it _was_ your fault."

Shindou huffed indignantly, and half-yelled, "Do you have a brain condition or something? Cause it certainly…" His voice trailed off as they both tromped back to the entrance, leaving an exasperated Nase behind.

"Boys…"

—

Hey. It's been a while, eh?

I managed to get a hold of my mother's laptop for this, (though I don't think she's very happy with me hogging it for so long) and typed out a chapter. It's probably not as good as the others, seeing as there was such a big time gap and I was unable to really gather my thoughts on this. But anyway, I do hope you'll enjoy the chapter, it _did_ take me a while to actually sit down and churn this out.

Oh, by the way, _This Ain't a Scene, It's An Arms Race_ belongs to Fall Out Boy.


End file.
